The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim takes what worked about previous entries in The Elder Scrolls series and enhances them, creating a revolutionary open-world experience. Players never have to choose a strict class, allowing them to customize their play style with a variety of weapons, magical powers, and other specializations over the course of the game. This leaves room for a truly immersive experience in which players can put emphasis on combat, character interaction, money, or their own unique combination of the three.

Though there is a main plot, in which the player-controlled Dragonborn must track down and defeat the dragon Alduin, the variety of side quests and other available experiences means that players can enjoy the game for dozens of hours without advancing the main plot significantly.

Skyrim boasts an enormous open world with tons of unique locations, which makes exploring the country a task all its own. Players can choose to join factions like the Thieves’ Guild or the Dark Brotherhood, marry NPCs, or just play around with the fun of using the Thu’um on unsuspecting villagers. Though the game was notoriously glitchy, it received critical acclaim for its scope, revolutionary leveling system, and freedom, and sets a high bar for open-world RPGs to follow.

To say it took longer than expected is an understatement, but Bethesda has finally confirmed all three ‘Skyrim’ DLCs — ‘Dawnguard,’ ‘Hearthfire,’ and ‘Dragonborn’ — for a February PlayStation 3 release.

With promises of dragon riding, an Oblivion realm, and a return to the province of Morrowind, ‘The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Dragonborn arrives as the game’s second major DLC expansion. Read on to see if it melts away yet another winter of gaming.

Bethesda has released new screenshots and details for its upcoming ‘Skyrim’ expansion, ‘Dragonborn.’ Check out some of the dragon-riding DLC’s plans for new enemies, locations, weapons, armor and more.